LANDOVER, Md. — The next time the Giants assemble inside their locker room back home, it could be for the last time.

“Try not to think about that, really, try to remain positive,” tight end Kevin Boss said, almost pleading. “Look at it as a game we win and we might be in. Trying to stay optimistic about it. Let’s not talk about cleaning out the lockers.”

That is likely all that’s left for the Giants. They try to salvage some pride this afternoon against the Redskins at FedEx Field, needing to win and have the Bears beat the Packers in Green Bay in order to slip into the playoffs. Another dreadful loss — on the heels of the Eagles and Packers debacles — and all bets are off as far as the future for coach Tom Coughlin. It’s some mess the Giants have gotten themselves into. A look inside the game:

BEST BATTLE

Redskins CB DeAngelo Hall vs. Giants WR Mario Manningham: The third NFL season has been the best yet for Manningham, who has 56 receptions for 843 yards and eight touchdowns. He’s the only breakaway threat left after injuries to Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks, and as such he will face the best the Redskins have to offer, which is Hall and his six interceptions.

NUMBER TO KNOW

10-6. Teams that finish up with that record usually — but not always — can assume they’re headed to the playoffs. Since the 16-game schedule was adopted in 1978, 16 teams have won 10 games and missed the playoffs. So if it happens to the Giants, they won’t be alone in their frustration.

ELI’S BAKERY

Get your turnovers here. Eli Manning’s NFL-high 24 interceptions is one of the most egregious statistics of the season and overshadows the good stuff he has done. Manning already has a career-high 30 touchdown passes and needs 263 passing yards to surpass last season’s career-best 4,021.

Manning also is completing a career-high 63.1 percent of his passes. He closes out the regular season against the league’s 31st-ranked pass defense.

“If we happen to squeak into the playoffs, I know we will be a different football team once that playoff run comes,” Rolle said.

Not even the prospect of doing damage in the postseason will get Rolle to spend any time thinking about or hoping for the Bears to come up big today in Green Bay.

“We’re not in control so I’m not going to beat my brains hoping on Chicago, I’m not going to become a Chicago fan, I’m not going to do that,” Rolle said. “We had control to close things out on our own and we failed to do so. I’m playing this game for pride and honor. You want to go out with a bang. You want to go out being remembered as the dominant Giants team.”

FAIR GAME?

The Giants could finish at 10-6 and not make it into the playoffs in a season where the Rams get in at 8-8 or the Seahawks make it at 7-9 out of the sub-standard NFC West. When this happens, there’s always discussion of the fairness of this exact scenario, in which division champions are guaranteed playoff berths no matter what their record.

Unfair? Coughlin wasn’t going there.

“I haven’t even had one thought on that,” Coughlin said. “Maybe in a couple of weeks I might have something to say about that, but right now the way our game is, we’re all by division and you win the division you’re in and that’s what we live by.”

NOT FIRED UP

Two years ago, two-time Super Bowl winner Mike Shanahan was fired after 14 years as head coach of the Broncos. He has had a rocky first season with the Redskins and certainly knows what Coughlin is going through with all the speculation about his job security after the past two horrid losses.

“Yeah, you just kind of scratch your head,” Shanahan said. “They have one heck of a football coach that’s won very consistently and just won the Super Bowl a few years back. I think the people in the profession know what a great job he does and why they won a Super Bowl a few years back.”

PAUL’S PREDICTION

The Giants last week seemed to have shaken off the shock of their meltdown against the Eagles, battled back from a 14-0 deficit in Green Bay and then staged another collapse. It’s impossible to gauge their hearts and minds in this one. They’re banged up and don’t seem to have much fight left.